Underneath the Starlight
by Yami Alchemist
Summary: Yugi Mutou is no ordinary teenager. He can see, and talk, to ghosts. When his grandfather moves him to Arizona, he meets the strangest and handsomest ghost he's ever encountered. AxY Not Anzu Yaoi Rating to go up with later chapters.
1. Arizona

Yay! Another new story! I actually had forgotten about this one. I think I started writing it 2 summers ago and it's just kind of been sitting on my hard drive. I stumbled over it the other day when I was searching for something and figured I'd work on it some more.

It's based loosely on the Mediator series by Meg Cabot. And I mean _loosely_ too. It was born from that story inspiring it, but as any good author knows, the story's final plot got changed quite a bit. And so here is the first chapter of Underneat the Starlight.

Disclaimer: I do **NOT**own Yugioh or the Mediator series. They belong to their respected authors and I'm just writing this out of fun. No money was made, or hurt, in the process of this making.

Enjoy!

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><p>Arizona<p>

A sigh. A single sigh was all that was heard from the backseat of the old Ford Taurus. A boy who looked 12, but was really 17, rested his head against the window and idly watched the surrounding desert pass by. He had grown up in Japan all of his life… until now. His grandfather, Solomon Motou had decided that it was time for them to move to a different place. Yugi wouldn't have minded if Solomon had moved them to someplace still in Japan. But _noooo_, he had to move them to the United States. More specifically, Arizona. To the desert. Where the nearest neighbor was like 10 miles away. Okay, so not really 10 miles, but it seemed like that to Yugi. He was used to a sprawling metropolis. Huge buildings shooting up for miles into the sky. And then they moved here. Where there was absolutely nothing.

_Nothing!_

Yugi was more than slightly mad. He was angry. Why did they have to move all the way to Blackwater, Arizona? He was perfectly happy living in Domino. Sure, he didn't mind the country. He loved going out to the country side in Japan. He had enjoyed it on the occasions that they had gone, because it was so different to the busy city that he was used to. If going out into the country had been the only problem, Yugi might not have been so mad. What made him mad was the fact that he had to move not only halfway across the earth, but away from his friends as well. Anzu and Honda were his best friends. And while they promised to keep in touch, he knew that they had their own lives and probably wouldn't have time for him. He sighed gloomily again and continued to stare out the window.

He knew that people were probably going to find him more than a little strange, and not only for his looks. Oh, sure, his looks were a bit peculiar, what with his multi-colored spiky hair and his vibrant amethyst eyes. And no, it was all natural. He had been born with ebony black hair tipped in purple with blonde bangs, and large shining purple eyes. And it might have seemed a little weird to some, but what made people really stay away from him was his particular ability.

Yugi Motou could see ghosts.

Not just _see_ ghosts, he could also talk to them and touch them. Not in that "hand-goes-through-them-way" but more in a way where he could touch them and it would be like he was touching another living being. His grandfather called it a gift. Yugi called it a curse. Once it was found out about his "gift," ghosts of all ages flocked to him. Begging his help in solving whatever it was that was holding them to earth. Normally, he wouldn't mind. Some ghosts actually were nice, and he enjoyed helping them. Usually it was just passing a message along, or finding a certain thing to give to one of their loved ones, and then, poof! They were gone. Onto the next life, or where ever it was that ghosts went to. It was the _other_ ones that made Yugi think of it as a curse. The ones that would come looking for him to hurt him. Some ghosts didn't want to move on merely because they liked hanging around and terrorizing people. It was these kinds of ghosts that hated Yugi because they were afraid that he would somehow try to get rid of them. It was true that he could if he wanted to. He knew all sorts of exorcism rites and all that, but he only used them when necessary. Which hadn't been all that often. Most of the time, the ghosts would either pass on by their own free will, or when they realized that Yugi wasn't going to harm them, they'd go away and leave him alone. There were a few instances where a couple of ghosts wouldn't leave, and kept trying to hurt him. It was these times where he would be forced to exorcize them. He didn't like doing it, but he had to do what was necessary in order to survive.

He also avoided old places because of this. The older the place, the more chances there were to have someone hanging around. And Yugi never went looking for ghosts. No, they always came to him, so he didn't need to. But don't get him wrong, he loved helping them out. It made him happy to help the ghosts that came to him. He just didn't like it when they found it necessary to pop into the shower with him. Now _that_ was just annoying and awkward. And the ghosts had a _really_ horrible sense of timing. They'd come at all hours of the day and night. When he was eating breakfast, daydreaming out the window at school, doing his homework and the most annoying: right when he was just about asleep. If it hadn't been such a painful process, he would have exorcised every single ghost that did that, regardless of if they wanted it or not.

He lifted his head when the car turned off of the main highway and down a two lane road. Within a few minutes, the town crept into view. With another bored sigh, Yugi looked out the window as the town slowly passed by. It was bigger than he expected it to be, what with having 2 fairly large grocery stores, a small mall, and more restaurants than he could count. It wasn't anything like Domino, but he'd give it the benefit of the doubt. It at least looked like there was something to do if he got bored. He wouldn't hold his breath, though. He spotted a small movie theatre on their way through the town and sighed in relief. Now if only he could guarantee that the movies they showed there were up to date movies and not old black and whites from a bye gone era. Yugi's grandfather turned down another road that led out of town. The homes and businesses gave away to more dust and rocks the farther they got away from town until it was quite a few minutes between houses. If he had to guess, he would have to say that they were about an hour's drive from town. And considering he hadn't gotten his license yet, that meant riding his bike. He mentally groaned and resisted the urge to bang his head against the window. The road gave way to dirt, then to a one car road the closer they got to their new house. Eventually the road melted into what Yugi assumed to be their driveway. It was a good half mile of bouncing down the driveway before the house came into view. Yugi was awed and scared at the same time. It was a big beautiful house with three stories. It was completely white with black shutters, though one would be hard pressed to say that. The paint was peeling and falling off, leaving behind a dark grey like look to the house. The black of the shutters had long since faded away. It was an old elegant looking house, but that didn't comfort Yugi very much. Where there was old, there were ghosts. This house more than likely wouldn't be the exception. Yugi could only hope that it was a child for a ghost. He could handle children. The car stopped at the front of the house just in front of the porch. Both he and his grandfather climbed out, Yugi staring at the house nervously. He reached in and grabbed the bag that held his laptop and iPod. Without taking his eyes off of the house, he swung the bag over his shoulder and followed his grandfather up the steps. The movers had already brought most of their things earlier in the week, so they didn't really have to unpack anything from the car. As Yugi headed in the door, a curtain upstairs ruffled in a non-existent breeze.

The inside of the house was beautiful, but practical. Right in front of the door were a set of steps that led upstairs to the bedrooms. To the right of the staircase was a fairly big living room and to the left was a large beautiful looking dining room. Directly behind that was a moderate sized kitchen that was big enough for four people to move about without getting in each other's way too much. His grandfather stretched and looked over the various boxes and pieces of furniture scattered between the living room and dining room. He turned to Yugi with a kind smile, "Why don't you go up and pick out which room you want? I'll stay down here and get things situated before your mother arrives."

Yugi nodded and eagerly headed up the stairs as he said, "Okay Grandpa."

The second floor housed a small study and library. It was no doubt the main reason why his grandfather chose this place to live in. Yugi's mother was a writer and would take advantage of the library in every way. He bypassed both rooms as he headed up to the third floor. There were two fairly large bedrooms on this floor. Each room had its own bathroom and closet space. They were really nice bedrooms, but Yugi was more curious about the open doorway at the back of the hallway. A set of plain steps led upwards to what Yugi assumed to be the attic. He shrugged and headed up the steps, his curiosity getting the better of him. The door at the top of the steps was partially open and he gave a soft push. It creaked as it slid open and Yugi's jaw dropped. The attic had at one point been made into a bedroom and it was huge! The ceiling, which served as the walls as well, was painted white and sloped upwards. The length of the room seemed to go the entire length of the house, making it the largest room there. But what made the room perfect were the two round windows on opposite sides of the room. One window overlooked the garden far below the house. Yugi eagerly hurried over to the window and gazed out of it. A small hill in the background shortened the view, but it was still beautiful. He turned to go check out the view from the other window when his eyes widened and he promptly tripped. He fell backwards with a small cry and he landed on his butt. Urgent footsteps hurried up the stairs and his grandpa came rushing into the room as he exclaimed, "Are you okay, Yugi?"

"I'm fine, Grandpa," Yugi said as he stood up and rubbed his butt. He smiled reassuringly at the older man as he continued, "Really, Grandpa, I'm fine. I just tripped, that's all."

"If you're sure…" Grandpa murmured as he cast a critical eye over Yugi before turning and looking over the room, "I'm guessing that this is the room you want?"

"What?" Yugi said as he tore his gaze away from the thing that had caused him to trip in the first place, "Uh… yeah."

"I thought so," Grandpa said as he smiled at Yugi. He waved his hand towards a pile of boxes that Yugi hadn't noticed when he entered the room, "I took the liberty of bringing some of your boxes up already. I kind of figured you'd want this room."

Yugi smiled and wrapped his arms around his grandfather as he gave him a strong hug, "Thanks, Grandpa. When is mom going to arrive?"

Grandpa hugged him back just as tightly before clapping his hands down on Yugi's shoulders, "She should be here before dinner. Speaking of which, any requests?"

"How about pizza?" Yugi asked.

"Sure," Grandpa said as he turned to head down the stairs, "I'll call the local pizza place and order. You go ahead and start unpacking."

"Okay Grandpa," he said. He paused and listened until his grandfather's footsteps faded away. A frown crossed his face as he turned to the other occupant in the room and asked, "And just who are you?"

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><p>Shortish intro chapter, I know, but every story starts somewhere.<p>

Don't forget to review and I'll see you in the next chapter!

Jaa!


	2. Yami

I can't believe how long it's been since I originally started this story. I miss working on it. Well, here's another chapter!

Yup. Don't own Yugioh. Totally wish I did.

Enjoy!

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><p>Underneath the Starlight<p>

Yami

"_I dream of rain… I dream of gardens in the desert sand… I wake in vain… I dream of love as time runs through my hands… sweet desert rose…" – Sting – Desert Rose_

He watched as the ghost froze in his spot with a small frown on his face. There was something about this ghost that was different from all of the ones he dealt with before. It wasn't even his looks, which _were_ quite peculiar. There was just… _something_ about this ghost… something he never encountered before. Yet it looked normal… like any other ghost. Despite that, he just couldn't shake the feeling that there was something rather special about the one sitting in front of him. He frowned in confusion as he pondered that for a moment before shaking his head. Perhaps his mind was playing tricks on him or something… The ghost still hadn't answered him, so he demanded again, "Who are you?"

The ghost slowly turned his head, for it most certainly was a male if the outfit he was wearing was any indication, to look behind himself over each shoulder before pointing silently to himself as if asking Yugi if he was talking to him. Yugi gave it an exasperated look as he said sarcastically, "No, I'm talking to the bug behind you. _Of course_ you. You're the only other being in this room, so what's your name?"

The ghost was still frozen where he sat on the window sill facing the driveway with a disbelieving look on his face. He had been there, in that house, for who knew how long and no one ever spoke to him before. Well, there was that one old lady, but he didn't think she counted… she often talked to the dishes after all. He chalked it up to her being old and would randomly wander around the house laughing to himself whenever he heard her talking to another piece of inanimate furniture.

At that moment, he was having a hard time comprehending the fact that someone was talking to him… To date, he couldn't remember anyone actually talking _to _him. He blinked rapidly for a few moments before he said, "Why should I tell someone so obviously rude my name when he hasn't even taken the opportunity to introduce himself first?"

Whatever Yugi was expecting to hear, it wasn't the smooth baritone voice that flowed out of the ghost's mouth. He was surprised by the sudden flash of warmth that seemed to flow over him at the sound and he fought back a dark blush. There was no way he could be getting butterflies in his stomach over a ghost's voice! That was… very awkward on several levels and he wasn't even ready to contemplate what that meant. He frowned at the ghost as he said, "Yugi… Yugi Motou. Now will you tell me yours?"

"Now see? That wasn't so hard, was it?" the ghost asked instead with an amused smile on his lips. The little one was rather cute when he was getting annoyed. The frown on his lips looked more like a pout and he couldn't help but find that a little endearing. Unlike Yugi, he freely admitted to himself that he thought the other was rather cute. He relaxed back against the window pane as he spoke, "It's nice to meet someone who can see me, Yugi Motou. My name, or lack thereof, is Yami."

"Yami?" Yugi asked with an incredulous raise of an eyebrow. Yami? That meant dark in Japanese. How could someone's name be _dark_? Well, then again… there was that one anime called DN Angel that had a character by that name. So it was possible, but that only happened in anime, didn't it? He placed his hands on his hips as he said, "How can someone be named dark? That doesn't make any sense."

"Yes, _Yami_. It makes perfect sense to me," the other said as he crossed his arms. Yugi was cute, but perhaps a little dense and just a tad annoying. His eyes narrowed at the boy in front of him as he said, "I cannot remember my own name. The lady that lived here a while ago gave me the name Yami. Of course, she couldn't see me, but she could sometimes hear me and thought it was the "dark whispering to her." She kept saying the word Yami whenever she heard me. So I took that as my name."

"Ah, I suppose that makes sense…" Yugi said with a thoughtful nod of his head. He sat down on the floor not far away from Yami, but not too close either. He didn't want to frighten the… well, he was _dead_ so he supposed it would be okay to refer to him as a ghost… unless the other was picky about that kind of thing. He'd been referring to him as a ghost in his head already, so what did it matter now? A thought struck him suddenly and he titled his head. Did he even know that he was a ghost? Yugi gazed at him as he asked, "You do know you're a ghost, right?"

Yami looked at him. It wasn't a surprised or shocked look, just a simple look. If Yugi didn't know better, he would've thought Yami was looking at him as if he were an idiot. He watched as the ghost leaned forward and he said, "I've been able to walk through walls, pass my hands through people's bodies, and make things float in the air. Do _you_ know that I'm a ghost?"

"Right, stupid question," Yugi said with a sheepish look on his face. So he was looking at Yugi like he was an idiot. And he felt like one after that response… He turned his head as he looked over the attic space. It was a lot bigger than he thought it would be and he absolutely loved it. If there was anything good about moving this far away from his friends, it was the fact that the attic was _spacious_. He hummed softly as he asked, "So do you always haunt the attic, or do you move around the rest of the house too?"

"I go where I please. It would seem that I am limited in a few places I can go. For example, I can't go any place that's been built in the last 50 years. But anything before that…" Yami said with a shake of his head. He shrugged his shoulders as if it was completely normal. Like it wasn't anything big that the places he could go into were rather ancient and rare nowadays.

"Wait, just how old are you?" Yugi asked as he turned his head to look at Yami with wide eyes. Can't go into any place that's younger than 50 years old? That meant that Yami was older than any other ghost he encountered before. He studied Yami closely. While it was true that ghosts remained the age they died, Yami was wearing leather. Leather pants, a black tank top, and a choker that looked like it was missing something. If he were older than 50 years… wouldn't his outfit be a lot more behind the times than that?

Yami frowned at the question. While it probably would seem rude for someone to ask that kind of question, to him, he wasn't very surprised. He _was_ a ghost after all. He probably had a right to ask him how old he was… there was just one problem with that. He looked away, staring out at the driveway as he said, "I don't remember."

"Is there anything that you _do_ remember?" Yugi asked as he gazed at the other. From the sounds of it, Yami didn't remember anything of his life before he became a ghost. That was not all together uncommon either. There was more than one ghost who hadn't remembered why they were still stuck on earth. It just took a bit of memory jogging to get them to remember what it was that they forgot. Usually it was easy because it only took thinking about the ghost's name, birthday, and where they were born for the memories to start flowing back to them. But if Yami didn't know what his name was… Yugi bit his lip. How was he supposed to help him if Yami himself didn't remember anything?

" There's got to be something we can do to help you," Yugi said as he jumped up suddenly, startling Yami who stared at him with widened eyes. He hated leaving a ghost without peace. It only happened a couple of times before, but he felt like a failure if he wasn't able to help a ghost move on. He paced back and forth as he spoke, "I mean, you don't want to be stuck here forever, do you?"

"I've gotten used to it," Yami said as he leaned back and crossed his arms. He watched Yugi pace back and forth with slight amusement. This kid was interesting. Not only could he see him, he actually wanted to help a ghost who couldn't remember who he was, where he came from, or how old he was. Just what was up with this kid anyway? Who went around just randomly helping ghosts for the heck of it?

"Yeah, but don't you want to move on?" Yugi asked as he continued to pace. His hands tangled into his hair as he muttered to himself. He didn't even stop to let Yami answer as he kept going, "It wouldn't be too hard. We just have to figure what's keeping you here. It could be a message. You know, like tell so and so I'm sorry, or that I love them. Or it could be an action like put flowers on so and so's grave, or even put flowers on your own grave. Or it could simply be an object keeping you here. Like a lost ring or toy or even a necklace…"

At that last word, Yami froze in his spot. His body went rigid and his eyes vacant. He even stopped breathing, if you could say that ghosts breathed… He just stared straight ahead as if he were simply a hologram that had its program glitch on it. He didn't move for several long seconds. And when he did, his reaction was rather violent in Yugi's mind. Yugi didn't even notice that he stopped moving until he finally reacted. He suddenly clutched his head as if in pain and screwed his eyes shut. An unearthly scream escaped him as pure pain wracked his body in waves. He pitched forward and before he could even touch the floor, he disappeared.

Yugi stared at the place Yami had just been in shock. What was it that he said? He blinked out of his stupor when he heard footsteps running up the stairs and he quickly sat down on the seat cushion where Yami just vacated as he grabbed his shin. The door slammed open and his grandfather appeared in the doorway as he said, "Are you okay Yugi? I heard screaming"

"Yeah," Yugi said through hissed teeth. He didn't want his grandpa to freak out by the thought of a ghost residing in their house. Though, really, he should've expected it. The house _was_ rather old. He rubbed his shin as he said, "I just hit my shin on the edge of the seat here when I was trying to look out the window. I screamed more out of reflex than actual pain. I'm okay. Just more shocked than anything else."

"Are you sure…? It sounded like it was really painful," his grandpa said as he walked into the room a bit more. He looked down at his grandson, who was still rubbing his shin as if it hurt. He knew how painful hitting one's shin could be, but that scream sounded as if Yugi's soul was being ripped apart. He doubted a knock to the shin would create a scream like _that_. Plus, it almost sounded like it came from someone else and not his grandson… but Yugi was the only other one in the room besides himself.

"I'll be okay, Grandpa," Yugi said with a soft nod as he stood up and shook his leg out a little bit. It wasn't as if Yugi could tell his grandfather the truth… sure, he knew Yugi could talk to ghosts, but it still unnerved him a little bit. What would the older Mutou say if he said he saw a ghost instead of actually hitting his shin? He doubted it would be anything pleasant, that's for sure.

The elder Mutou looked at his grandson for several long moments more before nodding his head finally. He wanted to question him further, but he figured it wasn't worth it to try. He knew about his grandson's ability to see and talk to ghosts, but he knew that if Yugi was talking to one and didn't mention it… Well, he would just have to keep an eye on the young boy is all. It may have been a ghost in their house, or it may very well have been Yugi hitting his shin on the edge of the window seat. He turned around and headed back down the stairs as he said, "I ordered food, by the way. Oh, and apparently the pizza joint in this town makes burgers too…"

Yugi paused for a moment, debating internally whether or not to stay and wait for Yami or to go get food… his stomach growled and it won out over his desire to know more about the mysterious ghost. Then again, he was an absolute sucker for burgers, so that probably explained why he was willing to let things go and go get food. He could hardly resist the delicious ground meat made into a perfect patty. He really hoped they had cheese and bacon at this place… no burger was complete without them in his mind!

He made his way down the stairs with one last look at the attic space before disappearing. Perhaps when he got back from getting food with his grandpa, Yami would be willing to talk to him again. He really wanted to know more about the strange ghost he encountered. Perhaps he could figure out more about him and help him move on…

_Plus he's rather cute too…_ his subconscious said. Yugi blushed deeply as he fled down the stairs. That was _not_ something he needed to be thinking. Yami was a _ghost_ for Pete's sake. He did _not _need to go around thinking he was hot! Even if there was a chance, which there wasn't his mind argued, he doubted Yami would even be remotely interested in someone like him. He was "pathetic and small" according to the bullies at his school in Japan. After hearing that for so many years, one tended to believe it…

Once he disappeared down the stairs, a ghostly figure stepped out of the shadows of the attic room. Yami stood there, one hand on his hip as he gazed down the way Yugi left. His eyes were narrowed as he stood there deep in thought. _Yugi_… the younger boy was very interesting and certainly more excitement than the ghost had had in a while. But he was also a little weary of him…. The boy brought up things to his mind that proved painful and he wasn't sure if that was a good thing. He wasn't sure what it was that Yugi said that made him double over in pain, but it felt like his head was going to be torn apart. Through the pain, though, there was something… something just on the edge of his mind that if only he could remember he would be able to figure out who he was…

He briefly wondered if he should just disappear and ignore the boy for the entire duration that he was around. But that could be years, and there was no telling where Yugi would pop up at. This was _his_ house and he wasn't going to leave it just because some boy brought up things that hurt. He didn't want to hide for the entire time Yugi resided in the house. And if his reaction to the house was any indication, it would be quite a while before Yugi actually left…

Still, for a living human… Yugi was very peculiar and different from everything he expected. For the most part, people ignored him and he was fine with that. They ignored him, he ignored them unless they tried to do something he didn't like. Like tear down the house. That happened once. A man bought the property and tried to create a ski resort there. That did not make Yami happy. He expressed his dislike of them in various ways. That entire summer was spent mostly out of the house, wrecking equipment and making piles of dirt suddenly disappear and reappear in the places they were dug from. Eventually the man got tired of it and gave up. The house remained and was sold to other people. Yami was very happy about that.

Yugi, on the other hand, was very interesting and Yami wasn't sure if he liked him or not yet. Perhaps he would speak to him again. Just to see if he could come to like Yugi… it was true that he never encountered anyone quite like him before. There was just something so different about Yugi, his ability to see and talk to ghosts aside. Something Yami knew would lead to something exciting and different. A lot different than what he went through for the past 5 years.

_And then there was the fact that he was rather cute for being alive…_ his mind whispered softly. Yami blushed and disappeared. While he admitted that Yugi was cute, he wasn't quite willing to face the implications of what that meant. Yugi was alive, after all. He was dead. There was no chance for anything to happen…

Or so he thought.

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><p>These two are always so delightfully complicated.<p>

Don't forget to tell me what you think!

Jaa!


	3. Touch

I don't actually listen to One Direction... I just found a YamixYugi amv with this song and thought it fit this chapter.

Do I really need to say I don't own Yugioh? I think everyone go the point... but just in case some shiny lawyers see this... I do NOT own Yugioh!

Enjoy!

* * *

><p>Underneath the Starlight<p>

Touch

"_They don't know I've waited all my life…" They Don't Know About Us – One Direction_

A few days passed since their first encounter with each other. Yami kept his distance for a while since he still wasn't sure about Yugi. The younger boy was as much a mystery to him as he was to Yugi. He wanted to watch him for a while more before he decided to approach him once again. He was still a little weary of the pain that the smaller one brought to him. He knew Yugi didn't mean to do it on purpose. It wasn't like he intentionally tried to cause Yami pain, but the feeling of the it tearing through his mind stayed with him and Yami did everything he could that day to stop it. It was only when he disappeared and reappeared at the school down in the town that he finally got the ache to fade from his mind.

So he stayed and watched Yugi for a while, just observing him and his patterns. The boy was actually very simple in his mannerisms. Almost boring really. But perhaps that boringness was what drew Yami's attention to begin with… Yugi was surprisingly simple and that was what made him so interestingly _complex_ as well.

It was almost four days before Yami finally appeared before Yugi again. He did so with slight apprehension, but he also knew that it was the only way to find out more about Yugi. Watching him only went so far. He needed to speak to Yugi to find out what was so special about him. He needed to know _why_ Yugi insisted on helping him especially when no one else seemed to before… He appeared silently, of course since he was a ghost, he had no idea how to appear anything but silent. He was so silent that Yugi actually didn't realize he was there until he coughed.

"Holy yakisoba!" Yugi yelped as he fell off of the window seat in surprise. He rubbed his butt as he looked at Yami. Well, a glare was more precise, but to Yami it almost looked as if he were pouting more than glaring… and he found that so cute. Yugi was adorable and he turned away to hide his smile at seeing the smaller one like that.

"What is this "holy yakisoba" that you speak of?" Yami asked elegantly. He didn't want to seem ignorant, but really. He was a ghost. How was he supposed to know what foods were what in this day and age? Especially when it came down to the fact that he didn't eat. Period. Of course, he wanted to eat. The food some of the people who lived in the house looked absolutely delicious… and smelled even better. But as a ghost, it would just fall through him and hit the floor. He should know, he tried it when he was only a few days old as a spirit and found out the hard way.

"It's a type of Japanese food that is really quick and really good. It's not really holy though, that's just an expression," Yugi answered as he stood up and brushed himself off. He glared at Yami as he said, "You could knock, you know. Or say something before entering. Anything. You know, just something so you don't scare me into turning into a ghost too."

"Sorry," Yami said as he hid a small smile. Yugi was rather endearing when he was all flustered and surprised like he was. He moved over to the bed and sat down on it. In the few days that he hadn't spoken to Yugi, the boy had managed to unpack all of his things and get his bed set up. It was actually appearing to be rather cozy in the attic now. Much more appealing than the old storage stuff that the last lady had in there… the attic was really depressing back then.

"It's okay," Yugi said as he shook his head and sat back down on the window seat. He grabbed the book that fell off of his lap when he jumped in surprise and the pen he was using to jot things down with. He looked over at Yami as he bit his lip. He wanted to apologize for the last time they talked… He fiddled with his pen as he said, "I'm sorry if I made something bad happen the last time we talked. I really didn't mean to…"

"I know you didn't Yugi, and it's okay," Yami said with a regal nod of his head. He crossed his legs and his arms at the same time. It wasn't a defensive posture like with most. With him it was more natural to sit like that, especially when he was deep in thought. Of course, with being a ghost and forgetting his memory, he had no idea _why_ he liked to sit like that. Only that he did. He tilted his head at the boy as he said, "What are you writing?"

"Oh, it's… well, promise you won't laugh?" Yugi said with a sheepish look on his face. He hugged the book to his chest and Yami realized it was a journal. One of the occupants had a daughter that wrote in one of those. Her thoughts were rather dark and filled with things Yami didn't even want to think about again. He didn't read her journal because he wanted to… okay, that was a lie. He did read her journal, but only when she was writing in it. And mainly because she was a bit creepy and he wanted to know if he should stay out of her way for fear of being exorcised.

He nodded his head, the tips of his hair dipping a little despite the fact that he was dead. He was very curious to find out just what it was that Yugi was writing about. If he could learn more about the other through his writing… although it probably would be frowned upon given that Yugi could actually see and talk to him. The daughter from before didn't even know he existed. Even though she liked to pretend she could see and hear ghosts. Given that he never saw any besides himself in the room, he chalked it up to her being an angsty teen. That family moved away quickly when the parents realized the daughter needed some serious help. Attempting to murder them in their sleep was a very good reason to seek professional help, in his opinion. He smiled calmly at Yugi as he said, "I won't laugh, I promise. Now what is it that you're writing, little one?"

"Little one?" Yugi asked with a clear pout. He knew he was short, but give him a little credit. He wasn't _that_ short. He was taller than the counter and could reach the bottom shelf of the cupboard… if he stood on his toes. Still, he wasn't that short! He was just… smaller than normal was all. Besides, Yami wasn't that much taller than he was.

"Forgive me, I did not mean to offend you," Yami said quickly as he bowed his head a little. He was rather unused to talking with another person. The only other conversations he ever had were with a ghost he found haunting the local cemetery. He'd never been back after that. That ghost was rather questionable in both thought and action… some of the things Marik talked about doing was a bit too creepy for him and he was dead.

"It's… it's okay. I don't mind," Yugi said as he bit his lip and turned his head to look out the window. He had no idea what possessed him to say that, but he just did. It came out of his mouth before he could stop it and he found himself not really regretting it. He shook his head as he said, "Anyway, it's just something I'm working on for National Novel Writing Month."

"National No… what?" Yami asked as he gave Yugi a weird look and tilted his head. He heard of a lot of different things over the years that he was a ghost, but this… whatever it was that Yugi was speaking about was a new thing to him. Of course, there were many things that were new to him, but this just sounded strange.

"NaNoWriMo, short for National Novel Writing Month, is this super awesome month long program that happens every November," Yugi explained as he turned to face Yami still holding his journal to his chest. He grinned as he started to enthusiastically talk, "It's where one writes over 50,000 words in 30 days. You're supposed to start a new novel and write it out during that month. There are some people who are _super_ fast and write a lot more than that, but I write by hand so I take a lot longer than they do to write it all out. It's actually rather fun!"

"Why on Earth would you want to write that much in such a short amount of days?" Yami asked incredulously. He couldn't fathom why _anyone_ would want to do such a ridiculous thing. That many words… it was quite daunting to his mind. He never actually thought about how many words one wrote on a daily basis, but 50,000 was quite a lot of words to write in a month to him.

"It's actually not that bad," Yugi said with a shrug of his shoulders. He leaned back against the window as he said, "In reality, it only takes around 1,700 words a day to make it in 30 days. Which, compared to the amount of words people write every day, that's actually a rather small amount. There are some people who write thousands more each day just for their jobs alone!"

"That seems rather… tedious though," Yami said quietly. Perhaps it was because he was much older than Yugi and he must've come from a different time era, because the thought of that much writing… boggled his mind. How was it possible to write that many words in one month? He knew storytelling was popular, but there couldn't be that many people that would write so many words in a month… could there?

"When it comes to a story that you love, no amount of words are tedious," Yugi said plainly. He hugged his notebook tighter to him. He loved participating in NaNo and he would never give it up. No matter how difficult life seemed for him, NaNo was the one thing he knew would be able to cheer him up. It was so much fun banding together with thousands of other people to do something as crazy as write 50,000 words in 30 days. It was an accomplishment that he looked forward to each year and he was absolutely in love with it.

Yami nodded his head thoughtfully. Perhaps he didn't quite understand. It must've been one of those things that he needed to experience in order to fully understand. He tilted his head as he said, "But how do you know that others are writing so many words with you? Do you all write letters to each other and send them? But wouldn't it take such a long time and by the time those letters reached you, wouldn't your word count be even more than what you said it was?"

Yugi laughed. He couldn't help it. He knew Yami was a bit older, but he still found it funny that he thought the sent letters. Was he unaware of the way they communicated nowadays? Letters weren't completely a thing of the past because he knew some people did still send letters, but most communication happened online now. He wiped tears from his eyes as he said, "Oh Yami… surely someone with a computer lived in this house at some point?"

"I am afraid I have no idea what you are talking about," Yami said as he looked away. He hated admitting it when he didn't know what someone was talking about. He prided himself on knowing all that there was to know… he blinked when he realized he wasn't sure how he knew _that_ particular little detail about himself. He just did. Hmm... Maybe it was something he instinctively just remembered and never actually thought about it.

"Let me show you," Yugi said as he stood up and walked over to his desk. It was right next to the bed, so he knew Yami would be able to see it without needing to move a whole lot. He sat down in his chair and opened his laptop. It was shiny and silver and relatively new. It wasn't brand new, but his grandfather got it for him less than a year before so he would have a way to keep in contact with his friends back home now that they were moving to the States. Before, when they lived in Japan, he simply went to his friend's houses to talk to them or use their computers. He was much more into board games and the like than computer games… not that he didn't play them. There was just something about watching your opponent face to face rather than imagining their reactions on the other side of a computer screen.

He flipped the top open and pressed the power button. He heard more than saw Yami move closer so he could look at the screen more. What he wasn't expecting was to see Yami mere inches away from him when he went to talk to him. He blinked for a moment as he watched fascinated, yet ghostly crimson watch the computer intently as he whispered, "What kind of magic is this?"

"It's not so much magic as it is electricity and a bunch of moving parts," Yugi said. He knew he was butchering the explanation, but how was one to explain what technology was to someone who obviously did not know a single thing about it? It wasn't like he could get technical and tell him about things like hard drives and RAM and software… how could he expect Yami to understand all of that if he didn't know the basics of technology? And trying to tell him the basics would take too long and Yugi wasn't even sure he would be able to get it right anyhow. He only knew so many things about computers and it was nowhere near the level to make a proper explanation.

"Fascinating…" Yami said in awe as he watched the screen light up, pulling back a little as it made a strange noise. He looked down at Yugi to see if it wasn't supposed to make that noise, but the smaller one simply reached forward and rested his finger on part of the computer. It switched to a different picture and Yugi leaned forward and started to press on the buttons. He was unsure of what to think of it. The buttons Yugi was pressing looked a lot like a typewriter, just not as big or noisy. He knew what a typewriter was simply because of the old woman. She owned one and when she wasn't talking to him or the dishes, she would spend hours typing on it. Movement on the screen caught his attention and he asked, "What are you doing now?"

"I'm bringing up the internet browser. You see, the internet is this giant network of things that let people like myself look for information, post information, and chat with friends. Think of it as a giant boarding school except that the entire world is there. You can hang with friends, talk with people you don't know, and find out all sorts of things. Many people call it an information highway, but I liken it more to a school," he explained as he waited for the browser to pop up. Once it did, he proceeded to explain what a website was and how one got to it. The entire time he was explaining this, Yami stood behind him, awe and curiosity warring on his face.

"And this is how we keep track of things on the NaNo website," Yugi explained as he brought up the website. There was so much on the site that he could've shown Yami, but he figured it would be easiest to start with the basics. He smiles a little and pointed to the top of the page, "We put in the words that we've written here and the site keeps track of everything."

"I can… understand how you would enjoy this "NaNo" as you call it," Yami said quietly as he gazed at the computer. Yugi showed him so many different things on the website and he was a little overwhelmed, but it all looked simply amazing. If he had this kind of thing back when he was alive, he would want to write often too. Especially if what Yugi said was true and that he could write anything he wanted… His memories would've been the first thing he wrote down simply so if he were to end up as a ghost again, he would know what happened.

"Did you want to try it?" Yugi asked as he turned a little and gazed at Yami. He knew Yami could touch and move other things, even if it took him a huge amount of concentration. An idea popped into his head and he bounced a little as he said, "Oh! You won't even need to touch anything. There's this handy program that you can just talk into and it'll record what you write. You could use that and write a book. What do you think?"

"I don't know, Yugi…" Yami said as he started to back up a little. He raised his hands as he looked at the laptop warily. It wasn't that the thought of writing so many words scared him, though it did make him feel a tad overwhelmed. He just didn't know how to run any of the technology that Yugi was showing him. The little one was doing a good job of trying to explain it, but he wasn't sure if he could actually go through with using it. He shook his head a little as he said, "I'm afraid I'll break such a fragile object of yours."

"It's not that fragile, Yami. It won't break if you touch it. Here, look," Yugi said as he reached over to grab one of Yami's wrists. He misjudged the distance between them and his chair tipped forward. He reached out to grab a hold of something, anything to keep him from tipping over, but his fingers found nothing. With a loud yelp, he fell to the floor with a small crash.

Yugi lifted his head a little, wondering why the ground felt softer than it should. There was no carpet on his floor. It definitely should've hurt worse than it did. Opening his eyes, he sucked in a sharp breath at the sight he was greeted with. Being this close to Yami, he noticed there were actually gold specks mixed in among the crimson of his eyes. He opened his mouth to say something when Yami disappeared completely from under him. With a grunt, he hit the floor. He lay there for a moment, wondering what just happened. He totally forgot Yami didn't know he could not only see ghosts but touch them as well. Getting up onto his hands and knees, he frowned as he said out loud, "That was completely rude, you know! You could've let me get up first, you… you ghost!"

* * *

><p>Got to love a frustrated Yugi. He's so cute!<p>

Don't forget to tell me your opinion (flames will be used to make dinner with)!

Jaa!


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